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ST. LOUIS — Roki Sasaki might’ve finally turned a corner from his recent struggles Saturday night.

Too bad the Dodgers’ offense took too long to do the same.

Despite a season-best six-inning, three-run start from Sasaki, the Dodgers remained mired in their recently maddening slump during a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. 

In their latest sign of futility, they endured eight shutout innings that included as many hits as double plays (four each). Then, despite some good batted-ball luck that keyed a last-gasp, two-run rally in the ninth, they fittingly ended the game by stranding the tying and go-ahead runners on base.

“Just comes down to, we didn’t score enough tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Indeed, Saturday followed what has become an uncomfortably common script for the Dodgers (20-13) in recent days.

They couldn’t generate power, failing to hit a home run for a fifth straight game (the longest drought for the club since 2015). They couldn’t take advantage of situational opportunities, either, going hitless with runners in scoring position until their short-lived comeback attempt in the top of the ninth.

That inning was keyed by three two-out singles that all deflected off the glove of a Cardinals fielder. Andy Pages then snuck a seeing-eye grounder through the infield to cut the deficit to one.

Alas, Dalton Rushing struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game and send the Dodgers to a fourth straight defeat.

They still somehow finished with six runners left on base, even when accounting for all the double plays they hit into.

In the first inning, Will Smith became the first victim on an inning-ending grounder that was turned by shortstop Masyn Winn. In the third, Alex Freeland got doubled off after an overly aggressive jump on a lineout to second from Shohei Ohtani. Another double play ended the fourth, when JJ Wetherholt made a spinning turn at second on a ground ball from Teoscar Hernández. Then in the fifth, Hyeseong Kim couldn’t leg out a tapper back to the mound that was also turned for two.

“Once we started to build something, the double plays got us,” Roberts said. “They turned a couple really good ones. That certainly kills innings.”

It also meant that, when Sasaki stumbled in a three-run third inning, the 3-0 deficit might as well have felt like 30.

Even with some fortunate bounces at the end, the Dodgers fell to 5-9 in their last 14 games.

“There’s gonna be times where we’re not clicking,” Pages said through an interpreter afterward. “And this is one of those times right now.”

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What it means

Before Saturday’s game, Roberts joked he was an “eternal optimist” while declaring “today’s the day” the lineup would finally turn things around.

By the end of the night, such laughter was gone –– but the manager was still trying to put a spin on the team’s confounding recent struggles.

Roberts maintained that the club’s slide is “what every team is going to go through in baseball throughout the course of a season.” He downplayed the notion that it has revealed larger concerns in the offense, noting what he felt were higher quality at-bats throughout Saturday’s game.

“I thought the intentions were better on balls in the hitting zone,” he said, after noting pregame that his hitters seemed too “passive” on pitches they should attack.

“Yes, we hit into some double plays tonight. But I thought we took some good walks and, obviously, in the ninth inning, I thought we put together some good at-bats. I just think we need to be aggressive and take what the pitcher gives you. But every team goes through this through the course of the season.”

Who’s hot

Sasaki … at least by the end of the night.

After drastically changing his signature splitter last week — abandoning his traditional forkball grip for a more prototypical splitter release — the right-hander used both variations of the pitch Saturday. It led to varying degrees of success.

Early on, Sasaki had his usual command problems, walking two batters and hitting another in his first two innings. Then in the third, the Cardinals finally got to him. Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson hit back-to-back doubles off his fastball. Jordan Walker got a hanging forkball in an 0-2 count that he belted for a two-run blast.

Just like that, it was 3-0 with no outs in the inning.

Another disastrous performance seemed to be at hand.

The one thing Sasaki has done well this season, however, is bounce back from such adversity. And over the rest of Saturday night, he provided his best example yet. The 24-year-old retired 12 of his final 13 batters to complete six innings for the first time this year. He also recorded only his second “quality start” (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs) in 14 career starting performances in the majors. 

There’s still a long way to go in his development. And his ERA is still an unsightly 5.97.

But the trend line, for the first time this year, finally appears to be pointing up. 

“I do think that there was a lot of growth,” Roberts said. “Each of his last handful of starts, he’s gotten better.”

Who’s not

Of the many, many hitters who don’t look right in the Dodgers’ lineup, no one’s slump has been more consequential than Ohtani’s.

After his ice-cold bat, the rest of the offense seemed to follow his lead.

On Saturday, the two-way star went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. In this series, he has now made an out in all nine trips to the plate. Overall, Ohtani hasn’t recorded a hit since Monday. And after it seemed like he was getting back on track last week, his season batting average is back down to .252 and his OPS is down to .835.

When Ohtani last spoke to reporters Tuesday, he framed his slow start as nothing out of the ordinary, saying it usually takes until May for him to typically find his swing. However, he also acknowledged that, when his hitting mechanics are off, his two-way duties can make it more difficult (or at least take longer) to get his swing synced back up.

Case in point: He has just one home run in his last 18 games and only two extra-base hits in his last 12.

Up next

The Dodgers will try to avoid getting swept for the first time this season Sunday, when Justin Wrobleski (4-0, 1.50 ERA) will face off against ex-Dodger Dustin May (3-2, 5.28 ERA).

The Arizona Complex League, a.k.a. Rookie Ball, started this afternoon. I normally don’t do a full recap of the ACL Cubs. Instead, I just give a link to the box score and comment if anything extraordinary happened today. I also don’t wait for the ACL Cubs to finish before I hit “publish” on the nightly wraps. I’d rather get the recaps to you before you go to bed at night than wait for a West Coast rookie ball team to finish up. Today was a day game so that was not a problem, but once summer rolls around and things get scorching hot in Arizona, the games will almost all start near sundown.

Last night shortstop Ty Southisene scored the winning run for Myrtle Beach in the bottom of the ninth. That’s the last thing he’s going to do for the Pelicans because he was promoted to High-A South Bend.

Everyone lost but Mesa.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were cast out by the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 16-2.

So the Saints scored in every inning but the sixth. Doug Nikhazy’s I-Cubs debut was one he’d like to forget as he got clobbered for eight runs on six hits over 2.2 innings. Nikhazy walked three and struck out four.

Close to all of the I-Cubs offense came from right fielder Kevin Alcántara. Alcántara singled and scored in the second inning on a double by DH BJ Murray. Then in the seventh inning, Alcántara hit his league-leading 11th home run of the year.

Alcántara went 3 for 4 with the home run and he scored both of Iowa’s runs.

Murray was 2 for 3 with the double and a walk.

Center fielder Brett Bateman went 1 for 2 with two walks.

That’s all of Iowa’s hits today.

Murray’s double.

BJ Murray get's us started! pic.twitter.com/MFAKIpzkbl

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) May 2, 2026

The Jaguar strikes again for 397 feet.

The Jaguar at it again! pic.twitter.com/pshlNz0jz1

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) May 2, 2026

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were left on the launchpad by the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 7-5.

Starter Tyler Schlaffer pitched 4.1 innings and surrendered two runs, one earned, on three hits. Schlaffer did walk four while striking out three.

Schlaffer was relieved by Jace Beck who allowed one inherited runner to score and five more of his own. Beck’s final numbers were five runs on seven hits over 1.2 innings. Beck walked one and struck out two.

Left fielder Andy Garriola homered twice tonight: a two-run home run in the second inning and a solo home run in the fourth. Garriola leads the Smokies with seven home runs. Tonight he finished going 2 for 3 with walk and the two home runs.

Shortstop Jefferson Rojas was 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the sixth inning. Rojas scored on Garriola’s first home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were boiled by the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 7-6.

Kevin Valdez started and allowed four runs on six hits over 3.2 innings. He walked three and struck out two.

Ethan Flanagan took over in the fifth inning and gave up just one run on four hits over the next four innings. Flanagan struck out four and walked one.

JP Wheat was called upon to get the save in the top of the ninth and in typical wild JP Wheat fashion, he took the loss after allowing two runs on no hits and four walks. Wheat also uncorked two wild pitches. He struck out one in the one inning of work.

Second baseman Drew Bowser tied the game up 5-5 with a two-run double in the fifth inning. Bowser went 1 for 2 with two walks and a hit batsman.

First baseman Cole Mathis was 1 for 3 with a triple and two walks. One of the two walks came with the bases loaded for one run batted in. He scored twice.

Bowser’s double.

Hey @StanfordBSB, your guy still rakes!

Drew Bowser comes through with his old college squad in town!#SBCubspic.twitter.com/P09FGOD7af

— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) May 2, 2026

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were hypnotized by the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 4-3.

Dominick Reid turned in a decent start, going five innings and allowing just two runs on five hits. He did walk four batters while striking out six.

Hayden Frank tossed the final four innings, gave up his first two runs of season and took the loss. Frank allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Catcher Logan Poteet was 1 for 2 with two walks and an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Left fielder Jose Escobar went 1 for 4 with a two-run single in the first.

Poteet’s RBI single.

Poteet ties it up! pic.twitter.com/o4HV8C4M64

— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) May 3, 2026

ACL Cubs

Cubs 7, Athletics 5

Kaleb Wing, the Cubs’ fourth-round pick last year, made his professional debut in this game and allowed one run on two hits over four innings. He struck out six and walked no one. Something tells me he’ll be in Myrtle Beach soon.

Second baseman Juan Cabada, a top 20 prospect in most Cubs prospect lists, went 3 for 5 with a triple, a run sored and three RBI in his stateside debut.

And, so, it ends. By going 0-for-4 today, Vargas’s streak ended at 27 games. That’s still the second longest in franchise history. You have to go all the way back to the early stages of the franchise’s sophomore season in 1999, to find the only bigger streak. Club legend Luis Gonzalez reached 30 games between April 11 and May 18 that year. But, as we’ll see, there are grounds for thinking Ildemaro’s may be more impressive, given the offensive environment of the time. It’s been a while since any D-back has come close to approaching Gonzo. Over the past twenty years, just three reached 20 games: Paul Goldschmidt (26 in 2013-14), Ketel Marte (21 in 2024) and Vargas. Here’s the top dozen.

What’s most impressive is, nobody saw this coming. Of all the people potentially to challenge the record in 2026, he was likely among the longest odds. Corbin Carroll? Sure. Ketel Marte? Of course, especially given his previous 21-game streak. They have a far better track record. For most of the other entries on the chart above, the players concerned were well known to be decent hitters. Even the notoriously light-hitting Tony Womack came in to the 2000 season with a .278 career average. But at the end of last year, when the streak was just three games old, Vargas was a career .249 hitter. His previous high hit streak before this? Just ten games, in 2022 when he was with Washington.

The 24-game streak at the start of the season makes it particularly impressive. That’s the longest streak to open a campaign for fifty years. Ron LeFlore of Detroit reached thirty at the beginning of 1976. Doing so also allows Vargas to get into some uncharted territory elsewhere. At the end of the streak yesterday, he was batting .404 on the season with 99 PA in the books. That’s comfortably the deepest into the season that an Arizona player has been able to post a .400 average. Here are the five previous D-backs with the most PA to reach the .400 mark (only stats at the end of the game being counted):

1. 77 PA: Geraldo Perdomo, May 3, 2023, BA .409
2. 67 PA: Mark Reynolds, June 1, 2007, BA .413
3. 64 PA: Greg Colbrunn, May 25, 2000, BA .404
4. 60 PA: Orlando Hudson, April 15, 2007, BA .411
5. 58 PA: Pavin Smith, April 18, 2025, BA .408

Gonzalez came achingly close to smashing them all, including Vargas. On June 4th, 1999 he went 2-for-4 and raised his average for the season to .398. That was as close as he got in a meaningful size. But that .398 did come over a much longer period, covering 227 plate-appearances and 201 at-bats. On the surface, that’s much more impressive than Vargas. Except, 1999 was a very different era, as Jack reminded me on X. There are reasons hit streaks of over 25 games have become much less frequent. The overall batting average that year was .271: this year, it’s .243. Put another way, if we assume 4 AB per game, a league average batter hitting 25 games in a row was roughly five times more likely in 1999.

The actual results bear this out. We asked Baseball Reference for all the hitting streaks of 25 games within a single season during the divisional era, led by Pete Rose’s 44 games in 1979. There were 82 all told over the fifty-seven seasons from 1969-2025, so about one and a half per year. But there have only been six since the end of 2016, and none of those got past 26 games. [Vargas’s season-spanner doesn’t count, of course] In contrast, 2011 alone had four, two of which reached the thirty-game checkpoint. Things peaked, unsurprisingly, in 1999, with six 25+ streaks. Gonzo’s 30-game run was surpassed later in the year by Vlad Guerrero reaching 31.

The other unexpected bonus in this being an early-season surge, is seeing a Diamondback hitter as the #1 for the batting title. When was the last time a Diamondback was in that position? The most literal answer is boring, albeit with a surprising name. Jeff Mathis went 3-for-4 on Opening Day 2017, and that .750 batting average was tied with six others for the major-league lead after that day. But that’s also not really what we’re wondering. What about as late in the season as we are now? Then the answer is a more predictable name: Paul Goldschmidt led all of MLB in batting average on August 18, 2015. Here’s the relevant Fangraphs leaderboard.

In fact, again looking from May 1 onwards in each season, only 2015 Paul Goldschmidt and 1999 Luis Gonzalez have ever led MLB in batting average. The latest date Gonzo led was June 5, 1999 — when he was hitting .390, the day after coming one hit short of batting .400. Again, it was a very different offensive environment, let’s say. As some of you might know, we have never had a full-season batting champion. 2015 Goldy would finish 4th, while 1999 Gonzo would finish 6th. The closest we’ve ever come was 2019 Ketel Marte, who finished 3rd, and never led.

Here are the others who led after only 1 or 2 games besides Mathis: 2000 Steve Finley, 2013 Gerardo Parra, and 2014 Goldschmidt (after just the Australia series; it helps that only two teams had played!). And here are the others who led later on in April: 2001 Jay Bell (April 18-19), 2007 Orlando Hudson (April 15 and 20), and 2011 Miguel Montero (April 8-10, 13-14). All told, that’s some pretty good company for Vargas. Is it sustainable? Almost certainly not, though even after this afternoon’s ohfer, Ildemaro still has a striking 47-point lead over the current runner-up, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez.

Still, we’ll continue to enjoy it while it lasts. You can only appreciate the wonders of a game where, for more than a month an unheralded journeyman on his fifth stint with the Diamondbacks, was the best hitter in baseball.

The Dodgers nearly suffered their second shutout loss in as many weeks, managing to get a pair of late runs in the ninth inning but falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Saturday.

Roki Sasaki had a decent start in the first inning, getting his first two outs on eight pitches, but put two men on with two outs by walking Alex Burleson and allowing a single to Jordan Walker. A bookend strikeout of Nolan Gorman helped him get out of the inning unscathed. Sasaki needed just three pitches to get two outs in the bottom of the second, but plunked Ramón Urías on a 1-1 count before walking Victor Scott II to once again put two on with two outs. Sasaki got another bookend strikeout— this time against J.J. Wetherhold— to strand the pair.

Once the Cardinals came to bat in the bottom of the third, Sasaki got ambushed early with a pair of doubles from Iván Herrera and Burleson to give St. Louis the early lead. Walker got to an inside slider from Sasaki and drilled a line drive that snuck over the left field wall to give the Cardinals a three-run lead. It was the eighth home run that Sasaki has allowed this season— tied for fifth most this season— and the fourth allowed over his last two starts. He would follow up that inning by retiring nine hitters in a row as he completed six full innings for the first time while tossing a career-high 104 pitches.

Sasaki has continued to display dominant results over the first two innings of his starts, as he has allowed just one run in innings 1 and 2 over his six starts, but he has allowed 18 runs after the start of the third inning, resulting in a 9.72 ERA from innings 3 and beyond this season. A positive note for Sasaki is that the walks have decreased dramatically, as he has walked just three hitters over his last 11 innings.

The Dodgers on offense were left stunned by the Cardinals defense as they couldn’t get anything going against Michael McGreevy. Will Smith hit into an inning-ending double play in the first inning, and the Dodgers couldn’t come through with two men on base and less than two outs in the second. The Dodgers were able to get the leadoff man on in the third with a bunt single from Alex Freeland, but Shohei Ohtani’s line drive was snared on a diving catch by Wetherholt, doubling up Freeland at first for another double play. The Cardinals would turn another pair of double plays to end both the top of the fourth and fifth innings.

The Dodgers managed to put multiple guys on base against Ryne Stanek in the top of the seventh, including their first hit since the third inning from Teoscar Hernández, but Andy Pages struck out swinging representing the tying run to get the Cardinals out of trouble. Jojo Romero followed Stanek with a perfect eighth inning, striking out both Miguel Rojas and Ohtani.

The Dodgers put up a two-out rally against closer Riley O’Brien as Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández reached on infield singles. Max Muncy lined a ball just over a leaping Wetherhold into right field to bring home Tucker and score the first Dodger run since the sixth inning on Friday. Pages kept the rally going with a base hit to left field to bring home Hernández, putting both the tying and go-ahead runs on base in a one-run game. Dalton Rushing came in to pinch hit, but went down swinging as the Cardinals took the series from the Dodgers and rattled off their sixth consecutive win.

In what has been an utterly brutal week for an anemic Dodgers offense, the team is averaging just 2.4 runs per game this week while recording just five extra-base hits— all doubles, no home runs— over that stretch. The Dodgers have performed miserably with runners on base this week, as they are hitting just .225 with runners in scoring position while leaving a combined 40 runners on base over their last five games. The Dodgers have now dropped four of their last five games against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium dating back to last season.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Jordan Walker (10)
• WP— Michael McGreevy (2-2): 6 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
• LP— Roki Sasaki (1-3): 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
• SV— Riley O’Brien (9): 1 IP, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers close out their series in St. Louis on Sunday (11:15 a.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading down to Houston for a three-game set against the Astros. Justin Wrobleski makes his fifth start while old friend Dustin May goes for the Cardinals.

Excuse me while I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. No, this is real. The St. Louis Cardinals continue to prove they are more than just a timid rebuild as Michael McGreevy threw a gem and Jordan Walker’s bat continued to provide the power leading the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the overpaid Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cardinals bats would ignite starting in the 3rd inning as Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson hit back-to-back doubles giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead. They would add to that score immediately afterward as Jordan Walker powered a 372 foot shot barely over the left field wall giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Michael McGreevy appeared to be channeling his inner Greg Maddux as he kept the Dodgers on the ground tossing 6 innings allowing only 3 hits and no runs including a Sportscenter double play turned by now and future up-the-middle combo JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn. Someone find the radar gun and measure the velocity of Winn’s throw to first. 91.6 mph!That had to sting Burleson’s glove.

Ryne Stanek came in to handle the top of the 7th inning and after getting the first two outs decided to allow some drama. He gave up a single and a walk, but managed to get Pages to chase two pitches out of the zone to escape with no damage. All’s well that ends well. JoJo Romero was the designated 8th inning guy and he got the Dodgers out 1-2-3 including striking out Shohei Ohtani who was held hitless by the Cardinals pitching staff Saturday night.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to lock down another Cardinals victory in the top of the 9th inning. He was tasked with tackling 2-3-4 of the Dodgers lineup and struck out Freddie Freeman on 3 pitches with an ABS challenge assist from eagle-eye Ivan Herrera. Smith lined out to Jordan Walker in right field. Kyle Tucker reached on a sinking line drive that Masyn Winn was not able to pick in time. Hernandez also reached on a ball that Masyn Winn was not able to snag cleanly up the middle which brought up the tying run in Max Muncy. He lined a ball just over JJ Wetherholt’s leap to bring in Tucker for the Dodgers lone run making it 3-1 Cardinals. Andy Pages singled in Hernandez pulling the Dodgers to within a run of the Cardinals making it 3-2 St. Louis. Pinch-hitter Dalton Rushing fortunately struck out to end the game.

I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but the Cardinals will go for a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday as Dustin May will pitch the most appropriate jersey number to calendar day in history with his May 3 attire. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium Sunday.

The Kansas City Royals (13-19) face the Seattle Mariners (16-17) in the second game of their series. The Royals won Friday’s opener 7-6. Starting pitchers are Seth Lugo for Kansas City, with a 2.63 ERA, and Emerson Hancock for Seattle, with a 2.86 ERA.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. Seattle Mariners

• Date: Saturday, May 2

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT

• Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

• TV Channels: Mariners.TV, Royals.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Kansas City Royals: 13-19 (No. 5 in AL Central)

• Seattle Mariners: 16-17 (No. 3 in AL West)

Odds

• Spread: Seattle Mariners -1.5

• Moneyline: Seattle Mariners -147 (57.0%) / Kansas City Royals +123 (43.0%)

• Over/Under: 7.5

Starting pitchers

Kansas City Royals: Seth Lugo (1-1, ERA: 2.63, K: 31, WHIP: 1.17)
Seattle Mariners: Emerson Hancock (2-1, ERA: 2.86, K: 32, WHIP: 0.98)

Weather: 72°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 47,929 | Roof: Retractable | Surface: Grass

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the Detroit Tigers scored five runs.

I regret to inform you that the Rangers were back on their bullshit.

A mystifying Achilles’ heel for the starting staff so far this season has been a persistent struggle to get the third out in early innings. That particular bugaboo certainly reared its ugly head for Texas once more as Detroit scored five two-out runs in the first two innings against Kumar Rocker and then we all just kind of sat around letting FOX inflate their advertisement metrics until they played the required number of innings.

The Tigers had five hits in 12 chances with RISP — including 4-for-5 through two innings — while the Rangers predictably did not have a hit with RISP in their six opportunities.

The loss prevented Texas from enjoying a third win in a row, something they’ve only accomplished just twice this season with no such streaks since sweeping Seattle in early April.

Player of the Game: Jake Burger hit a solo home run to prevent the Rangers from getting shut out.

Also, Cal Quantrill came in and provided three scoreless innings in relief of Rocker to at least soak up some innings and prevent Texas from getting blown out after Detroit went up 5-0 through two innings.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series with the Tigers back on national TV with RHP Jack Leiter next up for Texas against a pitcher yet to be named for Detroit.

The Sunday evening first pitch from Comerica Park is scheduled for 6:20 pm CDT and will be aired on NBCSN/Peacock so be ready to remember yet another password for yet another service to watch your favorite baseball squad!

After a rough day of injury news and in the wake of another messy start from Jack Flaherty, the Detroit Tigers needed to settle things down. Keider Montero was the man for the job, and he got it done with another quality start. Dillon Dingler supplied the power, and the Tigers put together a relatively calm victory on Saturday night in Comerica Park.

Keider Montero has been a godsend to a banged up back of the Tigers’ rotation. More proof will be required, but he appears a more composed and mature pitcher this year, less prone to the bouts of poor command that have plagued him a bit in a starting role during his first two seasons as a part-time major leaguer. The Tigers needed a pretty one from him today to break out of their road trip funk.

Montero got ahead of Evan Carter and Corey Seager in the top of the first, but was fortunate that a pair of hard hit balls were run down in center and right field. Kerry Carpenter in particular did a nice job running into the gap at the wall to haul in Seager’s drive. A lineout from Josh Jung to Gleyber Torres made it a quick 1-2-3 inning for Montero.

Kevin McGonigle popped out to start the bottom half, but Gleyber Torres reached on a soft tapper toward third. Kumar Rocker was only throwing 91-93 mph out of the gate, which was interesting. Colt Keith paddled an opposite field grounder that Jung at third whiffed on, and the Tigers were in business. Riley Greene smoked a one-hopper into right field, but Ezequiel Duran in right fired home and cut down Torres at the plate with time for catcher Danny Jansen to take the ball from the first base side of home plate and swing around to apply the tag. Not a good send with the strong-armed Duran throwing and the slow Torres running.

So it was runners at first and third with two outs for Dillon Dingler. Fortunately, Rocker’s slider hung up over the plate and Dingler hit an absolute missile to left for a 3-0 lead. Rocker’s velocity started to tick up against Kerry Carpenter, and a high fastball got a pop-up to third to end the inning.

Montero continued to just pound the zone with a heavy volume of fourseamers and sinkers. A pair of quick outs, and then a really nice slider to whiff Alejandro Osuna for his first strikeout ended the top of the second.

Spencer Torkelson flew out to open the bottom half of the second, but Wenceel Pérez singled and stole second base with Jace Jung at the plate in the DH slot. Jung punched out on a slider, but that brought McGonigle to the dish and in a 3-0 count, he slapped a single back through the box to plate Pérez. 4-0 Tigers. McGonigle promptly swiped second easily on a first pitch strike to Torres. The second baseman dumped a blooper into right field, and McGonigle raced around to make it 5-0. Colt Keith bit on a pair of sliders to strike out and send this to the third inning.

Montero committed the cardinal error after getting this run support, walking Duran to start the inning. He got Josh Smith to lift a shallow fly ball to left, but then walked Danny Jansen too. A changeup got a pop out from Carter to McGonigle, and the opportunity to escape a little self-inflicted trouble was there, but Montero would have to get Corey Seager out. He fell behind 2-0, but got lucky on slider right down the middle and Seager lifted a shallow fly ball to Pérez to end the inning.

Rocker’s day was already done, and RHP Cal Quantrill took over in the bottom of the third. The veteran is pretty familiar after his many years with Cleveland. Riley Greene worked a full count, but whiffed on a cutter to start the inning. Dingler grounded out, and Carpenter whiffed over a cutter to send us to the fourth.

Gleyber Torres was out of the game, with Hao-Yu Lee taking over at second base. Torres had something on his left side tighten up on him, presumably an oblique strain. Josh Jung immediately tested him with a soft grounder and Lee took care of it. Montero carved up Joc Pederson and froze him with a sinker to strike three. A first pitch sinker on the inner half up was poorly placed to a free swinging Jake Burger, and he pulled a home run to left to make it 5-1 Tigers. Osuna grounded out to Lee to end the frame.

Meanwhile, in Toledo, Zach McKinstry was preparing for his return to action, playing right field and then moving to second base, while launching a homer.

Zach McKinstry lines a 2-run homer over the tall wall in right and the Mud Hens take a 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/akTgvtmaI7

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 2, 2026

Quantrill got Torkelson to fly out to open the bottom of the fourth, but Pérez drew a walk and Jung jumped a first cutter, lining a single to right field. McGonigle worked a full count as Quantrill tried to stay away from him. The 3-2 pitch got smoked to left center field, but Evan Carter made a nice play to get from shaded to right field all the way across to the left field wall by the vistor’s bullpen and haul it in on the warning track. Another 380 foot out from McGonigle. Seems like there have been tons of them already. Hao-Yu Lee battled into a full count in his first at-bat, but lifted a shallow flyout to center.

Duran started off the fifth with a solid single. Montero was still only at 55 pitches, pitching efficiently though not getting much swing and miss. He got ahead of Smith 1-2, but a fastball at the top of the zone was lined to left for a single, and suddenly there was a spot of bother. Dillon Dingler came on to settle down his pitcher, and Montero got Jansen to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. Just like that it was two outs with a man on third and Carter lifted a routine fly ball to center to end the frame.

The Tigers started to draw a bead on Quantrill in the bottom half. Colt Keith drew a walk, and again we saw a little more aggression on the basepaths as Keith stole second. Riley Greene singled him over to third, and then Dingler popped out. Unfortunately, Carpenter swung 2-0 on a high fastball and grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Montero was still only at 64 pitches to start the sixth. Corey Seager hit another ball hard, but Pérez ran back and hauled it in on the warning track. Jung followed with a single. Montero and Dingler used Pederson’s aggression against him with a first pitch curve that was lifted to Pérez in center. Another first pitch breaking ball to Burger was popped out and Montero was through six and still only at 73 pitches.

RHP Peyton Gray was on for the Rangers in the bottom of the sixth. The 30-year-old West Michigan product has bounced around international and independent ball for years, finally reaching the major leagues this year.

Torkelson fouled off five pitches against Gray, but eventually whiffed on a slider right down the pipe. A couple of good changeups whiffed Pérez as well. Jung fouled off a ton of pitches as well in a long AB, finally got into a full count, fouled off the 10th pitch of the AB, and finally drew a walk. Jace Jung hasn’t done anything in his looks in the major leagues, but he continues to grind out really disciplined at-bats. That brought up McGonigle who had gotten a good look at everything Gray had from the on-deck circle, but Gray’s changeup is really deceptive, and he popped out on the first pitch despite clearly looking for it. On to the seventh.

Osuna grounded out, and Duran got a 3-2 count, but Montero went right after him and Duran ripped a drive to left that Riley Greene had to leap and snare for the second out. Nice play. Josh Smith flicked a little single to right, and A.J. Hinch came out to say thank you very much, going to the bullpen as Montero drew a standing ovation from the Tigers’ faithful. I’d love a bit better breaking ball command so Montero can punch a few more tickets, but he’s attacking the zone aggressively, and no one is doing enough against him to force him out of the zone. He definitely had some nice defense working behind in this one too. Good stuff, and much needed by his club. 6.2 innings, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, for Montero on the day.

Drew Anderson came in to get the final out of the seventh against Danny Jansen. The Rangers catcher worked a full count but he got kick-changed on a check swing for strike three. Nice job. Anderson appears to be coming around.

Hao-Yu Lee flew out to center to start the bottom half. Colt Keith smoked yet another line drive for a single, but Riley Greene got a meatball and popped out for the second out. Dingler ripped a single to left center, and the Rangers threw the ball in to Seager well off of second base and the Tigers’ catcher read it all the way and stole second base on the play. Carpenter offered at a 1-0 changeup at the bottom of the zone and grounded out to end the inning. LOBster fest for Kerry in this one.

Anderson struck out Carter to start the eighth, but Seager singled, and Jung doubled him over to third. Anderson stayed chill and induced a soft tapper from Joc Pederson. Anderson checked Seager at third and recorded the out at first. Burger took a pair of ugly hacks at two high pitches, ugly enough that Skip Schumacher and the training staff came out to check on him. Anderson then locked him up with a changeup right at the top of the zone for strike three to strand both runners. Not exactly textbook against a free swinging pull hitter, but we’ll take it.

Hard-throwing RHP Gavin Collyer took over from Gray in the bottom of the eighth, quickly popping up Torkelson for the first out. Pérez chopped one over the mound and beat out an infield single for his second knock on the night. Pérez broke for second, but Jung flew out to Osuna down the left field line and Pérez had to retreat to first. McGonigle stepped in looking for his second hit of the night, while Ricky Vanasco warmed up in the Tigers bullpen with a perfect, relatively safe inning in which to debut. Pérez was looking to run again, and he promptly nabbed second base for his second steal and the fourth by the Tigers on the night. McGonigle came out of his shoes on a 2-1 cutter and came up empty. He worked a full count and then yanked a drive just foul down the right field line that got the crowd hyped for a moment. A foul tip into the glove ended the inning and it was on to the ninth.

Instead of Vanasco, Hinch decided just to stick with Anderson in a four-run game. He got a grounder from Osuna, and McGonigle made a nice backhanded play and fired to first for the out. Duran drilled a line drive out to center field, but Pérez made a nice running play on that one. Really good defense from the Detroit Tigers tonight, and we hope for more of it. Josh Smith popped out to end it, and the Tigers are back to an even .500 record.

Dillon Dingler landed the big blow on the night, while the Tigers came up empty on a plethora of chances otherwise. Still it was more than enough with Montero and Anderson posting good outings.

It’s a 7:20 p.m. ET start on Sunday, with RHP Jack Leiter going for the Rangers. The Tigers will have to piece together a bullpen game, which Anderson’s 2.1 scoreless innings will make a little easier to manage.